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About Popples
Merchandise Original Line The Popples plush toys were manufactured by Mattel. Produced in the 1980s, these toys resemble brightly colored teddy bears or rabbits (but with long tails with pom-poms on the tip), and have pouches on their backs that can be inverted, so they go into the pouches and resemble brightly colored balls. The first introduction included nine original Popples. * P.C. Popple is a large Popple with blue fur, pink hair, and contrasting orange and yellow ears * Party Popple is a large Popple, with pink fur, hot pink hair, and contrasting lavender and pink ears * Pancake Popple is a large Popple with purple fur, orange hair, and contrasting blue and gray ears * Puzzle Popple is a medium-sized Popple with orange fur, green hair, and contrasting blue and red ears * Prize Popple is a medium-sized Popple with dark magenta fur, white hair, and contrasting green and pink ears * Puffball Popple is a medium-sized Popple with white fur, yellow hair, and contrasting blue and magenta ears. * Pretty Bit Popple is a small Popple with lavender fur, hot pink hair, and contrasting pink and blue ears * Potato Chip Popple is a small Popple with yellow fur, pink hair, and contrasting lavender and magenta ears * Putter Popple is a small Popple with green fur, orange hair, and contrasting red and blue ears. Rock Star Popples The second launch brought the Rock Star Popples: Punkity Popple (Popple with microphone and star on their tummy) and Punkster Popple (Popple with guitar and lightning on their tummy) as well as the Popples Babies: Bibsy (white with purple and white hat, bib and booties with stars) and Cribsy (pink with blue and white striped hat, bib and bootises). The babies had rattles in their tails and came with a squeaking baby bottle. Pufflings A line extension brought about Pufflings, which looked like little Popple pets (they were basically a ball of fluff with a face and tiny paws and tail coming out, and could flip inside out to look a bit like an anemone) and carried riddles and jokes on tags inside them. There were 6 different colors of Pufflings: Red, yellow, sky blue, purple, white and magenta. Sports Popples The Popples also had Sports Popples who turned into balls: Big Kick (soccer ball), Dunker (basketball), Touchdown (football), PC Pitcher (baseball), Net Set (tennis ball). The Sports Popples also included Cuester, who turned into an 8-ball, but no known toy has been made of him. Similarly, no toy was made of the original Pitcher, but P.C. was released dressed in a baseball outfit to replace him. Other Full-Sized Popples There were numerous variants: Flower Popples (who would turn into flowers when you flipped them inside out), Pillow Popples (wearing pajamas and turned into sleeping bag), Fruit Popples (who turned into different fruits), and Special Editions with limited distribution (including an animal series with Popples that transformed into parrot, dog, and a rabbit), and Costume Popples who were wearing special clothes and turned into something related (example: a ballerina Popple that turns into a handbag). Pocket Popples Besides the stuffed animals, another successful Popple-themed line of merchandise was Pocket Popples. Based on same characters as the larger Popples they were scaled to fit in a pocket. They had PVC faces, articulated arms and legs, and fabric features of ears, tails and pocket (where they hid). 2007 Revival A revival was attempted by Playmates Toys (who is also the current manufacturer of toys featuring another American Greetings property, Strawberry Shortcake) in 2007. This rendition only has four characters, (HappyPopp, PrettyPopp, KissyPopp, and MonsterPopp), marketed under the name 'Popp n Giggles Popples' which contain a sound box that makes a popping sound followed by a giggle when the popple comes out of its pouch (or when you press down on the shoulders while in its box, or sitting on a hard surface). Also released in 2007 was a version of Popples 'pufflings' called 'Popp n'mini message popples' which could record a 'message'. There are also "Key Chain" and "Cell Phone Charm" mini plush Popples that more resemble the Popples of the 1980's available in countries outside the US, such as Japan. (Key Chain Popples that have been spoted include those that resemble Party, Prize, Puffball, Pretty Bit, Potato Chip,and P.C.) Various "Deco Packing Tape", and stickers featuring original Popples exist as well.